Kobayashi on Nathan’s 2010/11 in The Block Magazine

March 28, 2011 at 11:48 pm by ojrifkin · More posts about:Kobayashi (小林尊), Nathan's Hot Dog Contest, New York City

The Block Magazine has an interview with Takeru Kobayashi where he discusses the events at the 2010 Nathan’s finals in more depth than he previously has. Kobayashi’s participation in the 2011 contest appears unlikely:

Even if I were to win the competition [2011 Nathan’s], I don’t think I would feel good about participating in an event held by an organization that has such little respect for me. It wouldn’t be any fun.

Comments (7)

7 Comments »

  1. tiny violin said

    March 29, 2011 @ 6:51 am

    It is about respect? I remember a limo at least one year and I remember being told I cant ride on the “champs” bus the year before. He made how much a year I mean not hating on a 60 dog guy but saying lets all get the same love in Coney and oh yea Chattanooga where there were more limos. I never got that much respect. Joey respects his fellow eaters and thats cool. Number 5 on its way Jaws 🙂

  2. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    March 29, 2011 @ 8:15 am

    It’s sort of a sad state of affairs; I have ambivalent feelings about the matter.

    From a personal standpoint, I side with Koby; he sounds sincere. If my heart wasn’t in it I would feel awkward eating at Nathan’s too.

    The man put competitive eating on the map; Kobayashi is the face of competitive eating, and his reputation commands respect.

    As a business, I don’t disagree with what the IFOCE is doing; it IS a business, first and foremost. The Sheas are the entrepreneurs and they have a right to run their firm as they please. If it’s not profitable for them, there’s no point to have MLE.

    They laid out the terms of contract, Koby didn’t agree, he didn’t sign. That’s it. That’s the way it works. Koby’s doing what’s best for him; the IFOCE is doing what’s best (what they feel is best) for the organization.

    Business rules are laid out for a reason. If the IFOCE didn’t stick to them, it might not be in business today, and that wouldn’t bode well for competitive eating in the short to medium term.

  3. anonymous said

    March 29, 2011 @ 8:45 am

    If you ask around the contract is basically offered nowadays to new eaters or eaters that are of importance to the organization like Joey and some of the other big names. The contract protects them in case you violated it and then try to enter the next contest. It would have little if any admissabilty in court if they tried to sue you for breach of contract for participation in past events. Ex: profiting from another sponsor. but then again you never know. I think its more about preventing you from competing in future participation than anything else

  4. Stallion Italian said (Registered August 27, 2010)

    March 29, 2011 @ 11:36 am

    Was hoping to see Koby this year at Nathans. It seems as if this is definitely not going to happen. I thought in the past that it might. It is a new era in competitive eating in many ways, the independents have new options. He will never be forgotten and his name has more recognition than Joey’s ever will, but Nathans and Koby is probably gone, gone, gone.

  5. Wow said

    March 30, 2011 @ 1:01 pm

    Who is Tiny Violin? Could it be….

  6. Dave 'Down the Hatch' said

    March 30, 2011 @ 7:57 pm

    Kobi should eat his words. Literally. I wouldn’t call him the “face” of competitive eating. I’d say he’s more like the original, a founding father so-to-speak. But he should just realize that he was wrong and move on, and by move on bite his lip and re-sign.

  7. Gentleman Joe said (Registered December 8, 2005)

    March 30, 2011 @ 8:16 pm

    He was not wrong. Yrs late to his realizations,(imnsho) but NOT wrong.

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